Bringing culture to the masses : control, compromise and participation in the GDR / Esther von Richthofen.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Richthofen, Esther von.

Series:

Monographs in German history ; v. 24.

Monographs in German history ; v. 24

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Sozialistische Einheitspartei Deutschlands.

Germany (East)--Cultural policy.

Germany (East).

Germany (East)--Social life and customs.

Germany (East)--Intellectual life.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (249 p.)

Place of Publication:

New York : Berghahn Books, 2009.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Cultural life in the former German Democratic Republic (GDR) was strictly controlled by the ruling party, the SED, who attempted to dictate how people spent their free time by prohibiting privately organized leisure time pursuits and offering instead cultural activities in state institutions and organizations. By exploring the nature of dictatorial rule in the GDR and analysing the population's engagement with state-organized cultural activity, this book challenges the current assumptions about the GDR's social and institutional history that ignore the interaction and inter-dependence between

Contents:

Introduction

Nonconformity, coercion and alienation: the 1950s

Neither puppets nor opponents

Organising culture: compromise and communication

Patterns of participation

Communication with cultural functionaries

Responding to developments at the grass roots

From art to culture

Breakdown of communication: the late 1970s and 1980s

Conclusion.

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references (p. [219]-235) and index.

ISBN:

9786612627521

9781282627529

128262752X

9781845458942

184545894X

OCLC:

645102046